Who is James and who is he writing?

As with all of the books of the Bible the letter of James has had its share of scholarly opinion. Shockingly not all scholars agree. I’m kidding about the shocking part scholars never completely agree on anything it seems. But as I have studied and taught over the years I have come to love what is called “Occam’s Razor”. Occam’s Razor shaves away all overly complicated and unnecessary theories. In other words, the simplest adequate answer to a question is usually the best answer.

The simplest and oldest understanding of James was that he was the younger brother of Jesus and the leader of the church in Jerusalem until he was savagely murdered by being thrown off the temple wall and then stoned to death. He was well respected by both Christian and non-Christian Jews in Jerusalem because of his extreme devotion to God and his unending service in prayer. But the gospel then and now is not loved by the “powers that be” either in the spiritual or human realms. So his story ends like the story of so many Godly people throughout history, in tragedy. So with that brief introduction as background let’s begin our study of this letter from James to the Christian Jews scattered around the Empire.

1:1 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion: Greetings. [Be well and filled with Joy]

2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, 3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. 4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

It’s fun to read the opening lines of this letter while thinking about the fact that James is the actual half-brother of Jesus. Until the resurrection James thought his brother was crazy, but now as he writes to those Jewish believers scattered around the Empire he refers to himself as the servant or slave of God and his half-brother Jesus. James now declares Jesus to be both Lord and Christ.

Each of those titles has enormous weight to a first century Jew. There is only one Lord so to call Jesus Lord is to recognize his oneness with God, and to call him Christ is to declare that Jesus is the long awaited Messiah. To insert the name Jesus into this title reminds everyone that the man Jesus was both fully human and fully divine. These claims got Jesus killed and eventually led to his brothers death as well. I think today these words are often spoken with little or no understanding of what a fearful and awe inspiring title The Lord Jesus Christ really is.

Take some time today and let the full weight of the truth that Jesus is both Lord and Christ sink in. As Lord His authority knows no bounds and as Messiah He is destined to rule the earth forever. His resurrection declared His victory over death and the all the powers of evil. The ESV just ends this amazing opening line with “greetings” which while technically a correct translation, seems like a ho-hum way of translating a word that means something more like “be well and overflowing with joy”. The longer more literal translation seems to me to be a much more appropriate ending to that introduction than simply saying “greetings”.

The first of many unexpected turns

Count it all Joy! (when you encounter trials of various kinds) Huh? I think one of the things I like best about James is his bluntness. Unlike so many today, he gets straight to the point, says what he means, and moves on to the next topic. Suffering, trials, temptations are not words we would ever use to describe joy. But James simply says we should think of all those things as joy, or at least as the road to joy. Because when our faith is tested we learn steadfastness. And it is this steadfast faith that James describes as the true source of all that we need to be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James lived a life of poverty in constant service at the temple in prayer and piety. So we need to understand what it means to him to be “lacking in nothing”.

The value of steadfast faithfulness

I the very first lines of this letter James is already teaching on the value of things in the kingdom relative to the value of things in the world. This is a theme he will expand on in many ways as he progresses through this short but powerful letter.

By enduring trials and temptations we will come possess something of such enormous value that it can be truthfully said that we “lack nothing”. James is showing us that learning steadfast faithfulness under pressure is a gift of ultimate value. All the riches in the world will not help us if our faith collapses under pressure into unbelief. Trials in a sense then become a source of strength, trials build our spiritual muscles and give us strength to endure no matter what comes. Trials and temptations truly are then a source of joy and hope, by enduring trials we gain the strength to remain faithful and faith is the only source of genuine enduring hope.

How to walk this path this week?

It is silly to look for trouble and to actively cause trouble for ourselves. James is not suggesting some sort of twisted masochism here. But we do not shrink from trouble out of cowardice either. Our culture seems to value a trouble free life as a sort of “highest good”. The bible on the other hand teaches the highest good as God himself. To follow God in a world that refuses to acknowledge the very existence of God will put us at odds with the world. As Jesus himself told us in John’s gospel.

I have said these things to you,

This week lets not keep quiet for convenience or give into temptation just because it’s easier than fighting it. By enduring, by remaining steadfast in faith we gain ultimate and eternal joy. By remembering that overcoming trials and temptation is the road to joy, it will give us strength to endure and a living hope for eternity. Let’s help each other remain faithful under pressure this week and make the world a little bit more joyful and a little bit more hopeful.

Have a great week!